Founded in 1987 by Daniel Johnson, the Texas Early Music Project is dedicated to preserving and advancing the art of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical music through performance, recordings, and educational outreach.

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I think my last blog rambled on a bit about earworms from La Pellegrina. Ok, as you might expect, those have been replaced by a new, but still Italian, assortment that has taken up residence in my head: the final page from Rore’s O sonno, the recurring theme from Monteverdi’s Io mi son giovinetta, and the overwhelming passion of both Satiati amor and Italia mia, by Marenzio and Verdelot, respectively. These were all combating for my attention during breakfast, but it’s virtually a free-for-all that includes the other pieces the rest of the time. Despite being such sophisticated miniature works of art, most of them are certainly whistleable and memorable.

Here's a video teaser of Io mi son giovinetta:

You are invited to join us on this whirlwind tour and then be in possession of your own set of earworms from 16th-century Italy. Click on the buttons below to purchase tickets. Enjoy!

Ah, October! Though we've already had several gorgeous days, our thoughts revel in the anticipation of even more cool weather and the Fall Toot and team sports played in large coliseums and our annual concert in College Station and food and drink made with substantial amounts of pumpkin. Yay! In the midst of all that is a little trip we're taking, without the need for a passport or shots or hotel bills. Yes, that's right, it's time for our much anticipated Madrigal Mystery Tour.... concert!

Danny

ITALIA MIA: MADRIGAL MYSTERY TOUR

Saturday, October 25, 2014 at 8PMSunday, October 26, 2014 at 3PMFirst English Lutheran Church, 3001 Whitis Ave.Arrive early for closer access parking, especially on Sunday!

Partial subscriptions for 4 concerts are still available: $108 general, or $90 for seniors.Single tickets can be purchased by clicking on the button belowand are also available at the door, payable with cash, check, or credit card:$30 general, $25 senior (age 60+).Discount prices for students with student ID are available for purchaseat the concert door for $5.

One of the primary characteristics of Italian music is the power of sudden contrasts. So here’s a contrast for you: Our first concert of the season was the largest we’ve ever had and our second is one of the smallest in recent memory, as we engage one of the most beguiling of all early music repertoires, the a cappella Italian madrigal.

The madrigal was one of the true tests of a composer’s skills in the Renaissance. The importance of depicting the emotions of the texts with ingenuity, originality, and flair increased, and composers used and improved on their best techniques; patrons had their most skilled performers to sing their works. Madrigals evolved from their humble, light-hearted beginnings into serious works of art, marked by variety, contrast, and quite a bit of humor.

TEMP's expert vocal ensemble brings to life some of these small gems, a few of which are in the Top 10 Renaissance Hits, such as Il bianco e dolce cigno by Jacques Arcadelt and Ancor che col partire by Cipriano de Rore. Many are rarely, if ever, performed locally: Luca Marenzio’s Satiati amor for 6 parts andO sonno, a bewitchingly insightful piece for 4 parts about the ‘elusiveness of sleep’ by Cipriano de Rore, are both revelatory and powerful. (There are, of course, a few pieces that were obviously meant for fun and pure entertainment, such as Orazio Vecchi’s 6-voice Tiridola, and others.)

The repertoire will come from the time-period of about 1535-1600, and will include three of Monteverdi’s many wonderful works from his Renaissance practice. And, of course, the concert would not be complete without Verdelot’s touching and moving title madrigal, Italia Mia.

The Italian madrigal in the 16th century was emotional, witty, daring, celebratory, passionate, sensual, experimental, and...gorgeous! These four-to-eight-part works are ideally suited for the intimate and lovely acoustic of First English Lutheran Church, located just north of the UT campus.

I sort of thought that the earworms from La Pellegrina would go away while I was deep into research for the Madrigal Mystery Tour concert. I was sort of wrong. Jenifer Thyssen’s opening aria still resonates in my head; Ryland Angel’s “Arion” aria still catches me off-guard; the final half of Meredith Ruduski’s aria from the 5th intermedio just will not take an exit bow!! Not to mention many magical moments from the choral and/or instrumental parts and the finale, especially, that still enter my consciousness … and you know what, they can all stay for as long as they’d like! It was such a thing!

La Pellegrina photographs by Cecily Johnson

But, onward! Such is the joy of my job that I’m surrounded by a whole passel of Italian madrigals for the 2nd of our Italia Mia: That’s Amore!concert season. (And, in our never-ending effort to make things more confusing, half the title of the upcoming concert is Italia Mia — tricky, eh? But you’ll know why at the concert, if you don’t already…) I’m listening, reading, deciding on parameters, choosing, scoring, formatting Italian madrigals 45/8. Or something like that. More on the concert soon; In the meantime, I'm not giving away any info on which madrigals we're doing, so it will have to remain a mystery! Get it? Madrigal Mystery Tour?

There is sad news to impart: the early music world has lost two extraordinary teachers and performers: keyboard artist and orchestra director Christopher Hogwood passed away this week in Cambridge. Earlier this summer, American lutenist and master pedagogue Patrick O’Brien passed away as well. Both of them touched countless lives through teaching, recording, and concerts.